Time to Flush?

Hey Guys,

I'm on Day 43 of flower, soil grow. I'm not really sure of the strain so I'm just going to play it by ear when I harvest. Some of the pistils seem to be dieing off on different parts of the plant and being closer to finished than where I started - flushing is a thought. I figured I have at least 2 more weeks. I fed half big bloom and half water the other day. Water from now on?

Thanks,

Bud


Uploaded with ImageShack.us


Uploaded with ImageShack.us


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

What color are the trichomes?

water for 2 full weeks at end of plants flowering time.

not ready at all, wait some time brotha...

Thanks for the input fellas.

I haven't really checked out the trich's, I've been reading a lot of folks who mention not even bothering apparently. You can see in the pic's that they are swelling, I don't know what the right word for it is. They are a little cloudy by the naked eye I guess. I've been just monitoring the pistils and looking closely for any overall changes in the bud growth. I'm use to biological observation - BUT, since I've never done this, I don't know if I'm looking at the right stuff.

I flowered 9/1 (ish). If I water for two weeks that puts me to 11/1 (ish), with a flower period of about 60 days. Subtract some time for the places to acclimate to the new schedule - but a freak occurance before flower... the hurricane, left them with no light for 2 cycles. Didn't seem to hurt, may have helped them get use to the new schedule.

Anyways, do you guys think I'm flushing too early? I don't want chemmy med's - plus I want to be 100% sure it's clean, I know I've still got mucho time left however I don't enjoy getting "burnt" - so I will be trying to harvest it as soon as it is ripe to try to avoid that.

Thanks again Bud.

They look like they have at least 2 weeks, maybe more. Flushing them now could leave them deficient at the end and cost yield. You can never really flush 100% in soil. Although alot of people will disagree I think one week is more than enough time for a flush. I have a friend that never flushes and honestly his meds, same mothers as some of mine, don't taste or burn any different.

Thank you NB.

I figured at least 2 weeks like I said as well - never seeing a plant mature though, I'm not certain. I'd like to see more pistils die as well as the fan leaves yellow. None of those have yet.

I've got some visable salt, just a little, on a couple of the drain holes of the buckets. I don't know whats happening inside that bucket and I wish I could see. Maybe one time when I transplant a little one I will do it to a clear bucket and just put it inside one of my homer buckets so the roots don't get exposed to the light. Would be neat to grab a peak occassionally.

Thanks for the input. I guess I will stick to water - maybe throw a tsp of tiger bloom into a gallon and split it between the two plants at some time. I've also got 3/4 a gallon already mixed of big bloom from a foliar feed I did on a vegger. My spider plants like that though.

I flush my final 10-14 water and molasses only. Never seems to be an issue. Personally though I think you have another 3 maybe even 4 weeks to go. Your just beginning week 7 and your plants look more sativa then indica which typically gives them a longer flower period.

A wise man once said to me check the trichs to check for maturity (thanks LBH), its worth the small investment to buy a 100x's handheld microscope, Active Eye makes a good one. You can see clearly when the trichs are ,clear, milky, or amber.

everyone is different, and has different needs... the only way YOU are going to know when your plant is done is to figure out what you want it to do... if you want something more racy and "up" you can flush when the trichs are clear and harvest when they are just turning cloudy... if you want something more couch-lock-y, you need to wait until they are at least 5% amber to flush so that they will be full amber (or 90%) when you harvest... however these are just general rules of thumb, as each strain performs differently... i know everyone is looking for the next big thing or the most popular thing, but if you take the time and really learn just one strain at a time (multiple grows worth of knowledge) you will find that you can make "your strain" perform just as you want it to... last thing, you will almost never ever (15 years experience talking here) get to 100% amber without sacrificing some potency (the ones that change color early, die early, similarly the plant will keep producing new trichs until it is harvested so those new ones will be cloudy or even clear... 100% does not exist in nature, and it does not exist in your garden... good luck!!!

Thanks for the advice NL and Oban.

When I first started my journey I planned on checking trichs as it was what I read in all the "how-to's". Recently though I've read 2 or 3 different threads about not looking at them. Not that trich's aren't signs of maturity, but I think the people (who seemed intelligent, had good post counts, spoke well, etc) were falling into bad habits and spending too much time trying to decipher them. I'm one of those over analyzer's and plus if I get into a routine I won't stop doing it. Nobody likes to take a more scientific approach than me, but I figured if I didn't look at the trich's as an indicator - I'd be a lot smarter in the long run.

Personally, I need a more 'racy' med. My condition makes me feel like crap and I could sit on the couch all day effortlessly because of it. Qleaner does amazing things for me and the taste is perfect as far as I'm concerned! Whatever I have growing is extremely fruity, which I don't mind, but from looking at all the trich's and how hashy it smelled the first few weeks of flower - it appears this is going to be kind of potent. That's blah with me because I enjoy medicating often but am not a fan of the "behind the eye" feeling. That's kind of an oxymoron I guess but I'm sure you guys get it.

On a side note. The other day I trimmed a tiny branch off, > 4". It had like a gram sized flower and a couple little bits, so I knew it would dry to a wither and I could see what the deal was. It smells super green like chlorophyll. I didn't plan on using it, figured maybe I'd light it and take a whiff of the smoke. Does the chlorophyll smell mean it's definently way to early, or is that just how fresh flowers smell? I don't care what anyone says, working with bugs was so much easier and a lot less guessing.


Ps, thanks for the continued help everyone. I've been doing my best but I won't be satisfied until I can assist other folks as well as everyone has with me.


Bud

The plants that you posted have 3-4 weeks left until their finished. Now I personally don't recommend flushing in soil unless you have a problem that requires a flush as a last ditch effort to save the plants. Truth is, flushing stresses the plants out a lot. I would recommend towards the end of flowering (last 4-7 days) to just feed with plain 6.2-6.8ph water. If you are watering properly (light run off), and feeding nutes every other watering at most, then a "flush" isn't necessary. So like I said, feed until the last week and then switch to just water and you'll get excellent results.

...well said

smokebros said:

The plants that you posted have 3-4 weeks left until their finished. Now I personally don't recommend flushing in soil unless you have a problem that requires a flush as a last ditch effort to save the plants. Truth is, flushing stresses the plants out a lot. I would recommend towards the end of flowering (last 4-7 days) to just feed with plain 6.2-6.8ph water. If you are watering properly (light run off), and feeding nutes every other watering at most, then a "flush" isn't necessary. So like I said, feed until the last week and then switch to just water and you'll get excellent results.

Click to expand...

3-4 weeks! Ouch, that's longer than expected, although I don't mind. I guess that mean's my yield will be much nicer than I though... heck I figured I'd get like 3/4 from each plant being my first grow. Glad to hear that at least I'm thinking on par with time frame (even though I said 2 weeks. )

Maybe I'm confused about flushing? Is it really possible to stress a plant by feeding water? Like I said, I had some salt built up around my drain holes... not much. I've always read the, what you feed is what you smoke thing.

Thanks again guys. Back to TB and BB I guess.

smokebros said:

The plants that you posted have 3-4 weeks left until their finished. Now I personally don't recommend flushing in soil unless you have a problem that requires a flush as a last ditch effort to save the plants. Truth is, flushing stresses the plants out a lot. I would recommend towards the end of flowering (last 4-7 days) to just feed with plain 6.2-6.8ph water. If you are watering properly (light run off), and feeding nutes every other watering at most, then a "flush" isn't necessary. So like I said, feed until the last week and then switch to just water and you'll get excellent results.

Click to expand...

I very much agree with all the above info except for a major flush. I havent been in soil for years but when I was a dirty bird I would do like above,again, feed with just h20 beginning at least a week out but 3-4 days before you're going to pull, but I would run about an hours worth of water on trickle (in the tub) thru the plant and purposely send it into,..."I'm drowning" mode. The plant sends everything it has to the buds in a last ditch survival method. I noticed yrs after being in water that I no longer got those single beans in a bud that I used to get and wonderfed if they were being produced under the same assumption, that the plant is dying, but a good bud pointed out that theres no way the seed could form and grow to be viable that quickly,...good point,lol.

Anyway, back to the original post, you got awhile still,lol. I also have a nice usb scope here if you want to play with that Buddy

As always, thanks for the info LBH!

I have actually seen a couple beans lately. The look brand new, on the outside of the buds and then there is 1 on the main stem of a plant. I was thinking I didn't catch that Sour Bubble male in time, but maybe it's because I fed so much water last week? I had done like a half gallon each of big bloom, then waited a day then gave 3/4 a gallon each of just water. The big bloom is mostly water anyways I think (the npk of that is like nothing).

I don't plan to do soil for long so if I just need to keep learning and doing what I'm doing. These two plants should give me a decent yield I hope and I can finish the basement, "nuke it" as MadMike would say and then it's on to 600W HPS and hopefully some sort of ebb system.

Ps, your joking about the USB microscope? I wanted to just skip a pocket one and get one of those until I realized I have a lot more money to spend getting my "real" room setup and running. I would have sold my soul for one of those back when I studied bugs. Literally, I would have.

`No, what we are talking about would take a lot more water, the plant would need to think its dying like smoke said,..a stress reaction.

Yes to the scope, theyve come down a ton in price, this one is 1.3 meg/200x, $30. Welcome to borrow it. If you cant wait till sunday, you can come grab it in EG

Ah - so maybe the SB did get to these plants. Either that or maybe pollenated itself and I'm just not seeing. I did take a few cuts and tried to do a ghetto clone attempt... one grew a nanner and spewed some dust - so I know these guys want to hermie. Once I am all set up I will make a real propogator. I have all the supplies I think. I wish I had places to store things in the past, and or knew I'd have future use for some of the stuff I use to have. At one time I had a few hundred rubbermaids of various sizes, about 30 lamp holders, shelves, etc. All of it I gave away, sold or threw away when I got married.

I'd love for the oppurtunity to borrow the scope. I'm a nerd of sorts and I'd have a thousand pictures in no time. I went to the Shack to get a pocket one today and they had none. The guy said they got a phone call today about one too coincidently... hmm wonder what for.

Thanks again.

Bud